I saw old Korea in Peru                   by K. Minn

I joined the local Napa college educational tour to Peru between Dec.28- Jan 7, 2012.

To share my experience with my friends and family in US, I wrote this note in Englsih and added some Korean notes for friends in Korea.

In short, this trip was going back to my old days in early 1950 and 1968 in Korea where I grew up.

이번 여행은 내 성장기를 보낸 한국의 1950-1960 년대로 꺼꾸로 기어올라가는 듯한 인상을 받은 여행이었다.
간단한 소개와 사진으로 인상를 적어본다. 항상 같이 지내는 미국의 가족 친지를 위해 영어로 쓰고 한글로 여기 저기 간략하게 설명을 보탠다.

I was born and raised in Korea. I left Seoul in 1968 at my age of 27 after the univeristy and 3 years of military service. Then, I lived, married, and raised 3 kids in Montreal, Canada until 1977.
I grew up in farming country and "developing" Korea, while there was a war going on for three years. The capital city Seoul changed hands three times by occupying forces.
There was devastation everywhere.
 In the farming country, there was no running water or electrity.
We used aninmal power and stone grinding tools to mill grains, just as our ancestors did for many centuries. As a child, I walked to school 2.5 miles, daily 5 miles, as there was no school bus.
Most of the farm houses had thatched roof made of rice straw with mud walls on natural stone foundation. Korea began to make motorcycle and transistor radio when I was leaving Korea in 1968.


Geography of Peru 지리

Upper part of Peru is near the equatorial line. (북쪽 국경은 적도 부근에 있다.)

To the east, there are Brazil and Bilivia and to the south, is Chile.



We visited the Lima city, Cusco ancient city, then machu Pichu ruins.
Then, we spent two days in Puerto Maldonado, an eastern rain forest jungle town from where we went down Amazon river by a boat to stay in a lodge for 2 nights . We saw the the life in jungles (green area in the map below).

Peru covers 1,285,216 km2 (496,225 sq mi). 면적
About 6 times bigger than unified Korea.
Population 30 million, about the half of unified Korea. 인구
The Andes Mountains define the three regions traditionally used to describe the country geographically.

안데스 산맥이 이 지역의 기후를 3 분 한다.



해안선 쪽 사막 기후
고산지대
산맥의 동부는 열대 우림으로 정글을 형성하고(국도의 60%) ,
이곳에서 시작하는 아마존 강은 브라질, 볼리비아를 거쳐, 대서양으로 들어간다.

The costa (coast), to the west, is a narrow plain, largely arid except for valleys created by seasonal rivers.
해안선 쪽 사막 기후

Lima, capital city,  beach

수도 리마, 사막기후가 완연하다.

Lima, near airport, arid desert.



중부 안데스 고산지대.
만년설이있고 높이가 백두산의 3 배쯤 뒤는가 싶다.

East green area (right side) is the the beginning of Amazon jungle area.

The sierra (highlands) is the region of the Andes; it includes the Altiplano plateau as well as the highest peak of the country, the 6,768 m (22,205 ft) Huascarán.

세번째 지역은 국토의 반이상이 안데스 산맥 동쪽, 고온 다습 열대림 지역이다.
12 월달이 거기는 여름이고 장마 철이라, 아마존 강이 흙탕물이다. 비행기서 찍은 사진

The third region is the selva (jungle), a wide expanse of flat terrain covered by the Amazon rainforest that extends east. Almost 60% of the country's area is located within this region.

December is rainny season and Amazon river from the air looks very muddy and brown.


Huge trees growing in the jungle, not far from Puerto Maldonado.
One should not miss the jungle trip when you go to Peru.

밀림속에 거대한 나무



Once you arrive in Lima, capital city, you see Korean marketing signs everywhere, Hyundae, Samsung.etc.
I heard Korea has Free Trade Agreement with Peru. (FTA)
I heard about 1000 Koreans are lving in Peru now.

Lima city .
I see the stop sign " PARE", "Para Sol" = Stop Sun = (양산)
 

Lima downtown

This bridge was covered as there were too many people jumping off from here,
and "suicide" may be a problem in this country too, but Peru cannot beat S. Korea which is ranking #1.

시내에 있는 다리로 최근에 자살 방지 용으로 난간을 다 막어 버렷다.



Down town central area of Lima.
When I was there, they just opened a city subway system and they offered free rides for one week.

작년 12 월에 리마 시내에 전철이 개통돼서 일주일 무료로
타게한다는데, 시간이 없어 구경을 못햇다.
많은 동상들이 여기 저기 있는데, 칠리하고 전쟁할때 공 세운 사람, 잉카제국의 영웅들 상이다.

There are many stutues in Peru. They are war heros duirng the wart with Chile or Inca Kings.



Since Spain conquered this country, they built catholic chuarches everywhere.
We visited a church in Lima and all I remember is the human remains as the church was a burial ground.

스페인 정복후 수많은 교회가 세워지고 교회는 묘지터가되고, 유골 보관처로 돼서,
장소룰 효율적으로 쓰기위해 이렇게 유골들을 정렬한 모양.



They collected the bones and displayed like this.



Every city has a central place where you can see the hisory and culture of the country in a short time.
We visited the National Archeological and History Museum on our second day.

Human ruins dating back to 9000 years are expained here.

Old ruins. 고대 유물 발굴.

One unusual thing was the custom of making human taxidermy.

인골 박제의 풍습.



Lima downtown was not any different from major cities of US, with fast food chinese restaurant,
Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut etc.

I had a chinese noodle soup on the second day in Peru.
"Chifa" means a chinese restaurant in Peru.
I see here potato, stuffed wonton, chicken, and meat, pork?




History of Peru 역사

이들의 조상은 20 만년전 시베리아를 거쳐 남하해서, 페루 지역의 인간 자취는 기원전 9000 년 부터 시작한다.
해안지방의 인류의 자취는 기원전 3000-1800 년에 그들의 문명을 건설하고 1530 년대, 스페인 군대가 도착햇을 때는 인카라는 제국이 형성 된지 100 년 남짓한때엿다.

그들은 주로 농업 어업에 종사햇다. 1532 에 인카제국 왕이 소수의 스페인 군대에 속아서 납치 당한후에는 멸망의 길을 격고, 그당시 잉카제국에 강제 병합된 지방 사람들 은 스페인 군대를 크게 반대하지 않았던 모양.

스페인 본토의 식민지로 있다가 1821 년 독립을 선언한 후 남쪽의 경쟁국 칠리와 전쟁에 많은 영토를 빼겻다고 한다.
스페인은 주로 광산에서 은을 캐갓고, 근세에 들어선 정치적 불안적, 마약 재배, 군사정권 등장, 지방에서 모택동 주의 신봉하는 게리라의 준동으로 사회가 격동을 격은 모양.

The earliest evidences of human presence in Peruvian territory have been dated to approximately 9,000 years BCE.
The oldest known complex society in Peru, the Norte Chico civilization, flourished along the coast of the Pacific Ocean between 3,000 and 1,800 BCE.
These early developments were followed by archaeological cultures such as Cupisnique, Chavin, Paracas, Mochica, Nazca, Wari, and Chimú. In the 15th century, the Incas emerged as a powerful state which, in the span of a century, formed the largest empire in pre-Columbian America.
Andean societies were based on agriculture, using techniques such as irrigation and terracing; camelid husbandry and fishing were also important. Organization relied on reciprocity and redistribution because these societies had no notion of market or money.

1532 년에 소수의 스페인 군대에서 속아서 인카제국의 왕이 납치를 당한 후에는
나라가 스페인 손에들어가고, 스페인은 주로 은을 캐가서 정부의 재정을 보강한 모양.

In 1532, a group of conquistadors led by Francisco Pizarro defeated and captured Inca Emperor Atahualpa.
Ten years later, the Spanish Crown established the Viceroyalty of Peru, which included most of its South American colonies.

Viceroy Francisco de Toledo reorganized the country in the 1570s with silver mining as its main economic activity and Amerindian forced labor as its primary workforce.
Peruvian bullion provided revenue for the Spanish Crown and fueled a complex trade network that extended as far as Europe and the Philippines.

However, by the 18th century, declining silver production and economic diversification greatly diminished royal income.
In response, the Crown enacted the Bourbon Reforms, a series of edicts that increased taxes and partitioned the Viceroyalty of Peru. The new laws provoked Túpac Amaru II's rebellion and other revolts, all of which were defeated.

In the early 19th century, while most of South America was swept by wars of independence, Peru remained a royalist stronghold. As the elite hesitated between emancipation and loyalty to the Spanish Monarchy, independence was achieved only after the occupation by military campaigns of José de San Martín and Simón Bolívar.
During the early years of the Republic, endemic struggles for power between military leaders caused political instability.
 National identity was forged during this period, as Bolivarian projects for a Latin American Confederation floundered and a union with Bolivia proved ephemeral.

Between the 1840s and 1860s, Peru enjoyed a period of stability under the presidency of Ramón Castilla through increased state revenues from guano exports. However, by the 1870s, these resources had been squandered, the country was heavily indebted, and political in-fighting was again on the rise.

인카제국 건물위에는 기도교 교회가 들어서 다 파괴되엇지만 유일 하게 마추피추란 곳의 그들 성지는 스페인 사람들이 있는것을 몰라, 1900 초기 미국 에일 대학교 인류학자에게 발견될때 까지 숲속에 숨겨져있어, 보존이 거의 완전한 상태로 돼있어, 여기는 세계인의 역사관광지로 각광을 받게된다.

원주민은 구라파 사람과 혼혈이 진행돼, 지금은 누가 누구를 정복햇는지 알기가 힘들다.

People were mixed over several hundreds years: european and local people.
Now it is difficult to know who were conquered. Local people conquered Spanish or vice versa.

I was light headed and felt I like having flu symptoms due to high altitude sickeness. Every pharmacy sells bottled oxygen and hotel serves cocoa leave tea which did not help me much. Some people can have bad headache. I felt also dizzy and weak.

City of Cusco and Machu Pich are two places one should not miss in Peru.

We took airplane and flew to Cusco on Dec 30, 2011.
There was festivity mood for the new year's day.

Custo has been an old Inca village. Someone in our group came here 20 years ago and she noted the city grew so much with many small houses on the mountain. This may be an universal phenomena in developing country creating unemplyment and social problem, with migration into citeis where there are not enough jobs.

Agriculture in small tradition scale cannot sustain the life in the country side, therefore mass migration into the cities with social unrest.
Not long ago, country side Peru used to be a hot bed of Maoists, whoc got involved in drug trafficking too.
I heard the same story in Nepal where Maoist gurrilars used to cut off road leading to the capital city and threatening the central goverement. Fortunately, maoists in Nepal joined the goverement.

But in Peru, the army crushed them and those maoists are in prison.

한때는 가난한 시골구석에 모택동파 게릴라가 준동해 마약 장사를 하고 난동을 처서, 군대가 다 소탕해서 그들 간부는 감옥에 들어가 잇다고 합디다.
비슷한 사정의 네팔 모택동파 게릴라는 정부의 일원으로 들어가 같이 정치에 협력한다고 들엇지요.

Cusco city from the hill.

This franciscan church was built on top of old Inca building, destoyed by earthquake and rebuilt.

It was hard to trace the original Inca structure as they used rocks for modern building and built new one on old foundation.

.


Inca people were known to make this inter-locking stone walls with huge stones,
which became a visual symbol of Inca culture.

인카 문명의 특징같이 보이는 거대한 돌 축대.

정월 초하루 불꽃 축제를 보고, Cusco 시외 시골 구경을 나갔다.
옛날 염전과 인카 시대 농산물 교배 시점장을 돌아보고 Secret Valley 라고 부르는 비옥한 계곡을 지나왓다.

In the country side, they used dried clay block to make walls.
I heard one cement block costs about 10 dried clay blocks.

여행 가이드 말에 의하면 콩크리트 브럭 하나 값으로 굽지 않은 진흙 벽돌 10 개 산다고 한다. 농촌의 집들은 한국의 1960 년전을 연상시킨다.

I remember all the ancient Korean houses were built with dried clay without any cement. Cement was too expensive then calling it "Yang Hoe, western lime ash".

Lime ash is made of baked lime stone which becomes hard when mixed with water, therefore very expensive and diffuclt to preserve as it absorbs humidity and gets hardened very quickly.

They pile up clay blocks and cover it with muddy clay.
흙벽돌을 싼후 다시 흙으로 도배질을 한다.



Below I am posting a few pictures of Korean houses preserved as they were like in old days in one of the southern provinces.

Pictures were taken by my high school classmate Mr. Chung Myun Soo and were posted on the high school alumni web site.
The walls of these houses were made of mud blocks and thatches were made of rice straws.

여기 아래 사진 몇장은 여기 고교 홈페지에 정면수 형이 계재한 경상도 양동 마을의 풍경이고, 페루의 시골집과 재료사용에 별 다른게 없다.
최근에 UNESCO에 의해 문화재 유산으로 등록이되엇다고 들엇다.
 
Now, these old houses and town are being preserved as cultural properties in some areas. 

Korean villages preserved as they were #1 photo by Chung Myunsoo

Korean villages preserved as they were #2 photo by Chung Myunsoo


             
Korean village  #3 photo by Chung Myunsoo
Here we see thached houses, tiled roof houses and rock studded clay walls.

시골에서 동물 털을 전통적인 염색을 해, 지갑, 옷을 만들고 관 광객을 위해 모자,
옷 물통 멜방등을 만드는 영세 상인이 많이 보이드군요.

We visited country side small stores where they dye wools in tradtional ways,
using cactus insect (giving brilliant red color), etc.
They make sweaters, belt, bags, wallet, blanket etc. for locals and tourists.

Koreans used to make basket with willow tree branches.

나무가지로 만든 광우리 본지 오래다. 지금은 모두 프라스틱인데, 한때는 미군에서 흘러나온 짤긴 검은 전화줄로 광우리를 만들엇는데, 요새는 박물관에나 가야 볼지? 

Dying process using,plants, insect blood, or minerals.

Local country street. 시골동네 풍경

Old salt mining area.
Salty underground water is sent to many small evaporation fields owned by localㄴ for generations.

땅에서 나오는 소금물을  조그만 받으로 유인해, 증발시켜, 소금을 만드는 곳으로 이 소규모 염전은 대대로 전해네려 온다고 함니다.

지금은 우기라 염전이 휴업상태.

Mud walled thatched houses in the country is not much diffferent from the old  Korean houses that are now peserved in some part of Korea.

토담과 초가집.

After we spent the new year's day, we went down by train to Muchu Picchu ruins, which is 9000 feet high, where I felt a little better due to lower altitude than Cusco.

We took 2 hours train ride along the Urubamba river which goes together with Inca hiking train which takes 4 days by feet with a local guide. You are not allowed to go this trail without a guide. This trail may have been the old road to Machu Pichu, now a hiking route.

At the train station, a vendor sells steamed corns.
 Koreans used to sell steamed corn in old days.

Cusco에서 버스로 3 시간쯤가면 Olantaytambo 라는 기차 정거장이있고 우루 밤바라는 강을 따라 2 시간 기차로 가면 마추 피추 산 언덕 아래 기차가 정차하고 또 뻐스로 한 30 분간 꼬불 꼬불 올라가면 인카의 성지로 알려진 마츠 피추 산에 도착한다.

이 얘기가 길어져, 다음에 아마존 강유역 풍경과 이곳의 사정을 기재할 제정임.

기차 정류장에는 찐 옥수수 파는 사람도 보인다.
하나 먹어보니, 한국 옥수수 비슷해 달지는 않고, 밀가루 떡 먹는 맛이 난다.

Machu Picchu Ruin entrance
마추피추 유적 입장소.

Machu Picchu ruin story will continue later with Amazone area scenes.

To continue....

Photo and Story by Kyungtak Minn - January 28, 2012